The dew was so heavy in the morning that I had to linger for a while as my tent dried.
The town of Coldspring was exactly like you would imagine an old small Texas town to look like.
As I expected, the sky did not look great early into the ride.
I was biking right into some nasty weather.
That is until I made a turn at some point to avert the storm. I found myself in another nice small Texas town where I enjoyed some lunch.
Riding the the pine forest was absolutely wonderful.
Though I could live without the hills.
I loved riding through all the National Forests, and getting a chance to enjoy the lakes nestled into the middle of each forest.
South view of lake. Lawrence?
North view of lake.
More south.
And more nasty weather ahead.
This sign was reassuring, especially since I was about to ride right into a storm. It read "NO SHOULDER; NO CYCLISTS." Goody.
I didn't see what the big fuss was. The road was fine.
The sky, however, was not.
It finally started to pour. I had to find a little aluminum roof covering some rolled up fence to hide under. This was a serious storm. Epic flash flooding. Zero visibility. Thunder and lighting that would make your bones shake. I was not enjoying it. I took a chance and bolted through the storm to a nearby house to see if they'd let me in to avoid getting further drenched. There was on;y a cleaning lady there and she would not let me in.
Luckily the storm only lasted 15 minutes after that and I was able to hit the pavement again. I still had a lot of mileage to cover and the storm took a big chunk out of my day.
I was really hoping this wasn't as bad as it looked.
After climbing some nasty hills, I found myself staring down a bunch of cacti. It is amazing how quickly I can go from a moist pine forest to a drier climate with plants you would expect in that type of area. Like cacti.
The road was long, straight and hilly to Debbie's house. I was getting pretty sick of the hills. Her road was probably the worst. After so many miles, I just wanted to be done for the day.
I was greeted in the driveway by two adorable dogs. Debbie was outside waiting for my arrival and offered me a beer as I dismounted my steed. I gladly accepted. The view from her home was absolutely beautiful.
After I got cleaned up, Debbie took me out to dinner. I called it a night around 10:30. The Texas hills killed me!
Taking a day off tomorrow.
Total mileage: 83
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